#razorgrinder — Public Fediverse posts

"It is a very bad year for cicadas." Bellingen resident

Along the coast of southeast Australia cicadas leave the soil, after spending most of their life underground. The nymph aerates the soil for 6 – 7 years.

Once out, they start to communicate with a shrill and loud song. There are 200 species in Australia, each with its own call. The Greengrocer cicada can reach 120 decibels which may be challenging to the human ears, but there are noise cancelling headphones!

The cicada is a survivor from the Late Triassic period and populates the bushland for a short period from November and December. Many cultures, such as Homer, Aristotle, the Chinese Shang dynasty revered the insect.

Tree-changers with ubiquitous lawns and a few gum trees complain about the cicadas, the bats, the birds, the frogs and etc.,etc. No one seems to complain about the ubiquitous cacophony of fossil fuel machinery and the introduced pets that run from December to December.

The noise that is tolerated:
85 – 100 decibels: a hair dryer, blender, petrol - lawn mowers and lawn equipment
90 decibels for 'normal' car exhaust noise
90 decibels for a petrol-powered leaf blower
95 decibels for a motorcycles
100 - 140 decibels a bush doof, concert or festival
109 decibels for running a chain saw
120 decibels for a bulldozer
120 decibels for a screaming child
130 decibels, a human baby's cry is louder than a car horn
125 – 155 decibels for firecrackers or fireworks, or a jet engine

Cicadas:
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/cicadas-superfamily-cicadoidea/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-23/cicada-chorus-rings-loud-this-summer-nsw/103249584

Also the iconic Christmas beetle doesn't want make an appearance anymore for xmas. Conservation is declared a data sparsity issue and not a change of ways problem. "We’re gathering citizen data to see the full picture."
https://theconversation.com/people-worry-christmas-beetles-are-disappearing-were-gathering-citizen-data-to-see-the-full-picture-217358

#cicadas #Entomology #ecology #invertebrates #wildlife #birds #habitat #LandClearing #Bellingen #RazorGrinder #bugs #Christmas #beetles #ChristmasBeetles #habitat #HearingLoss #noise #pollution #DataSparsity #conservation